


The New Doctor

by muldersboyishenthousiasm



Series: Stars in their Hearts [1]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Historical AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-30 01:40:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12097914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/muldersboyishenthousiasm/pseuds/muldersboyishenthousiasm
Summary: Historical AU. Pre-WW1. In which Mulder is an astronomer and Scully is the daughter of the local doctor.





	The New Doctor

**Author's Note:**

> The fictional village of Grand Hope is loosely based on Grand-Métis, a municipality in the La Mitis Regional County Municipality within the Bas-Saint-Laurent (Quebec, Canada).

**September 1910**

It is today, on this warm afternoon, that a crowd of Grand Hope villagers are gathering to welcome the new doctor and his family. Since Dr Owens died of pneumonia in 1898, the small community has not been able to replace him. When people would become sick, they would call in the doctor from the other villages which can be situated twenty-five miles away.

Grand Hope is a small village located in Gaspésie, in the Province of Quebec. It is inhabited more or less three hundred souls. The residents mainly speak French. Few have learned to speak English even though almost half of the population is British or American.

Most of the families live on their ancestors’ farms and operate them to be self-sufficient and sell excess of their productions at the market. All villagers are farmers and work from 4 am to 6 pm on the farm. Men, women and children must milk the cows, collect the eggs, make hay, prepare the barn for the cold winter to come...

A few of the residents live at the centre of the community but there are exceptions. They run the church, the grocery store, the school, the police station and the library. The children of the village are lucky to go to school. It has been five years this summer that a schoolmistress accepted to move to the village.

\---

On this particularly hot Summer day, Doctor William Scully, his wife Margaret Scully and their four children, Bill, Melissa, Dana and Charlie, are moving in the two stories house that will be their new home. William Scully senior has previously informed his family that a welcoming party is going to be thrown in their honour at 7 pm, at the school.

At this very instant, Mr. and Mrs. Scully are putting the sheets on the wide bed in their bedroom.

“Everybody influent in the village is supposed to be present,” said Doctor Scully to his wife.

They have begun unpacking the wooden crates they used to protect their belongings during transport.

“I hope we can find our clothes amongst these many boxes!” sighed Maggie Scully.

“Oh, I’m sure it won’t be a problem. If I remember correctly, Dana helped you pack most of the clothes. All the necessary items for tonight must be tucked away in clearly labeled boxes,” smiled Doctor Scully.

“Maybe I should ask the girls to help us unpack the kitchen dinnerware first so we can cook something to eat. After our lunch, the boys could go tend to the horses and cut the empty boxes so we can burn the wood in winter,” suggested Maggie.

Doctor Scully nods amiably and bends over to retrieve books in the crate at his feet. He examines the bindings carefully and decides against putting them on his beside table. His wife witnesses his hesitation.

“William, you should bring these downstairs to your office, they’ll be far more useful there.”

“I think you are right, darling,” he says affectionally.

“How many do you have in the box?”

“About two dozens.”

“Are they all medicine books?” wondered Maggie.

“No, there’s one about stars and the Universe.” He pauses. “I thought I’d thrown it away. Must have found its way back in.”

They keep on unpacking in silence. After a while, they are both done and there is no crate remaining. They both exit their bedroom and join their children in the living room.

Bill and Charlie are playing chess at the table, Melissa is gazing outside the largest window and Dana is reading a new book. Upon hearing their father clearing his throat before addressing them, the young adults interrupt their activities.

“I hope you are settling in this new environment well,” he says, “as you all know, we are expected to make an appearance at the welcoming party thrown in our honour, at the school.”

“Almost every villager will attend. I hope you’ll put on your evening clothes and present yourself with dignity to this event,” adds Maggie.

Bill looks at his wrist watch. He frowns.

“At what time do we leave the house?” he asks his father.

“6 o’clock sharp. I don’t know yet how long it takes to drive to the school,” Doctor Scully answers. “And one of you boys should drive the carriage.”

Dana stares at her father with a disapproving expression on her face. He thoroughly ignores her. He knows that she wants to drive the carriage to town. And she is an excellent  
driver. But they are newcomers to the village and a woman driver is not necessarily well-seen these days. Some men are very much against women doing tasks outside their  
traditional field of activity. And since Doctor Scully does not want to create waves this evening he will not let Dana take the reins today. He wants no argument about this decision  
and he knows that if he dares speaking a word about the issue, he will probably lose. So he stops himself from looking at her.

“I’ll go prepare the carriage, father,” tells Charlie while standing up.

“I’ll help him. Then we’ll put on our evening clothes and join you in the kitchen, mother. If ever you need help,” declares Bill.

Their mother thanks them while they head towards the front door to go to the barn. She turns to her oldest daughter who does not seem to have listened to any of the earlier  
conversations.

“Melissa?”

The young woman turns to face her mother.

“Follow Dana upstairs and help her finish emptying the boxes in your room.”

\---

When their father had spoken about moving again, Dana thought it would be for the best. She had hoped for a bigger house. She dreamt about getting her own bedroom. But it is nothing like this. Since the clinic is on the first floor, the family lives on the 2nd floor. Melissa and have to share a bedroom.

Dana pushes open the door to the new bedroom she will be sharing with her older sister. She likes Melissa… but at twenty-two, she just wishes she could get a little bit of privacy. She knows that if ever she would decide to marry, she could get her own house. But she would have to find someone to love and who would be able to return her love. Dana knows she is not ready to leave her family just yet. And she does not intend in sacrificing her freedom to get a wedding band around her finger. So in the end… sharing a small bedroom with her sister is not that bad.

Melissa is no trouble. She frequently spaces out, thinking about odd things such as ethereal beings. She is much more than her sister, she is also a friend and a confident. She never tells Dana’s secrets. And she is about the only one to know about Dana’s secret dream; of becoming a doctor and taking after their father.

“So what do you think about this welcoming party?”

“Honestly? I don’t want to go. I’m too tired to go to this. People will want to see us, shake hands, talk to us, speak about their own problems…” Dana sighs.

Melissa smiles indulgently.

“You never know,” she begins. “Maybe you’ll meet prince charming!”

“Are you serious?” mocks her young sister. “I’m sorry Melissa but marrying a farmer is not on the top of my list of priorities.”

“You never know who’ll you see tonight! There are not only stable boys here in the village.”

Dana rolls her eyes disapprovingly. Melissa raises her hand and counts the possible places where they could find eligible bachelors that could fit her sister’s tastes.

“Charlie told me there is a convenience story and a grocery here. And Bill reminded me there was a police station. Maybe you’d prefer going out with a police officer?”

Dana puts the book she has been reading downstairs on her night side table. She does not want to talk about boys right now. She is tired but now, she needs to change into a  
more fashionable dress. She is preoccupied about the possibility that this welcoming party risks turning into a dance party. Dana needs to mentally prepare herself about this  
prospect.

**Author's Note:**

> I intend to make this the first part of a series that will be updated irregularly. We should probably meet Mulder in the next part.


End file.
